four principles for midlife

#midlife blog crestingthehill.com.au

The pastor of our church quoted from the concept of conservation agriculture called “Farming God’s Way”, which is a simple method of growing your own food and giving back to nature what was taken out. It is built on four key principles : On time, to high standard, without waste, with JOY.

His suggestion was that this could be applied to the Sunday church service - but I wanted to take it a step further and apply it to what's important to me in midlife and making the most of what I've been given.

#1 On Time

I hate it when people are late - I feel that they think their time is more valuable than mine. Punctuality is a sign of respect to the person you are meeting with, it shows respect to the people you work for and it shows respect to the doctor or dentist that you've made an appointment with. It isn't hard to figure out what your time commitments are and to schedule yourself to fit in around those. Leaving home at the time you are supposed to have already arrived means you know you'll be late and yet you think that's okay. I'm sorry, but to me that is just plain rude and we should be more polite in midlife.

#2 To High Standard

I don't want to do anything "half-arsed" I expect better of myself. I don't want to do less than my best at work or in relationships. I want to invest in people who have the same standards as me - who want the best for their friends and co-workers. I want to work for people I can respect, and be friends with people who have good values and who love life and live it with integrity. Those are the values I am cultivating in midlife.

#3 Without Waste

I'm over time wasters and wasting time. I'm in the second half of my life now and I don't want to spend it with people or things that detract from my life or hurt me. I'm not in the mood to tread water in a dead end job, or to sit around waiting for people to call me. I'm on a mission to dive into life with more gusto and to enjoy as much as I can. There's no point wasting time on past regrets and I'm working really hard at not wasting time worrying about future problems. Midlife is for living now.

#4 With Joy

Last and certainly not least - in fact I think it is the most important thing of all - is joy. Finding joy in life and all it's ups and downs and ins and outs. Life will never be perfect and it will never be constant smooth sailing, but there are moments of joy to be found everywhere and I intend to seek them out and remind myself of them. Midlife is a special time where there is an opportunity to rediscover who I am and what I love and to embrace it unapologetically. That is my intention and to do it with as much joy as possible!


26 comments

  1. Love this, Leanne! Respect for others and for oneself. Make your moments count and feel the joy. Perfect way to tackle life!

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    1. thanks Diane - it really caught my eye and I thought it was so appropriate to normal life :)

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  2. The subject sounds like something the pastor of my church would talk about. Your quotes and this post are perfect for me this week! I'm at a new crossroads and am embarking on my next chapter of life. I know it will be full of things that help me rediscover and redefine who I am and what I love.

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    1. How exciting Brenda! I'll look forward to reading all about all the new things you discover - I love when people start a new chapter of life :)

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  3. I second all of these. It's funny how most of us come to these conclusions at this time in life. But, oh... that time-thing - that just bugs the heck out of me. Just yesterday I knew these ladies would be late...so I showed up 10 minutes after the time...the rest of them still didn't show up for another 20 minutes after that. ugh!

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    1. Punctuality is definitely becoming less normal Karen - I don't understand how people just randomly show up late when they've known the time they're due to arrive for days/weeks and still don't bother to fit their schedule around it....grrrr

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  4. Love this post and I'm so grateful that you shared it at the #AnythingGoes Link Party.

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    1. my pleasure Sandy - I love your AnythingGoes link up :)

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  5. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this and agree with all of it...thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Kim - it took my fancy too when I read the four principles

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  6. I really like this Leanne. I find that in this phase of my life I choose to spend time with people that have high standards. I don't want to spend time with things that waste time or bring me down. I like positivity and joy and kindness and respect.

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    1. Me too Michele - every single bit of what you said - I just don't have time in my life to waste on people that are not like minded - I'm happy to leave them to find their own path :)

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  7. I am standing up and giving you a round of applause xxx

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    1. that's very kind Suzi - I'll take my bow and thanks for dropping by :)

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  8. all that mentioned is so right...people value you if you value them,their time,respect and love.thanks for sharing.

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    1. my pleasure Shweta and you are right too - great summary!

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  9. Great advice, thanks for sharing!

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  10. I can never be late with my other half, he always leaves way to early and we are hanging around for ages no matter where we are off to. x

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    1. my husband is an early bird too - but better that than always being late :)

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  11. Definitely like #1 & #3

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    1. I'm a big believer in #4 because it's what I'm working on all the time!

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  12. I hate being late and when people are late. ugh. Great advice!

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    1. Me too Amie - I just think lateness with no excuse is just plain rude!

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